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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Over-the-Collar Dog Bandana Tutorial

My BFF Susan has the most adorable double doodle (golden retriever x poodle x 2) named Chewy. As a first time pet parent, Susan has been spoiling Chewy with pricey accessories from Etsy. We've all been there! When I saw how much sellers were charging for dog bandanas, my first thought was, "That is crazy! I can make that!" This is a very easy project I hope you enjoy picking fabrics and patterns to make your dog the hippest on the block.

[Follow Chewy and her adventures on IG @chewy_doodle. This cute pup has more followers than I do!]

Over-the-Collar Dog Bandana

Materials needed

-11x11 inch square of fabric (you can buy a fat quarter and trim it down or buy a 1/3 yard cut from the bolt and cut it down)

-scissors/fabric trimmer

-grid cutting mat

-fabric pencil

-ruler

-matching thread

-pins

*Note that the amount of fabric required will vary based on the size you want your bandana to be. I started with a 11x11 square in order to have the final bandana size be 9 in for Chewy who is a medium sized dog.

Instructions
1. Cut your fabric down to size and square it off. Using the selvage edge of the fabric helps immensely.

2. Line up the square of fabric right side up on the grid of your cutting mat. Starting from the corner, mark four inches across and mark inches down. Draw a line between those two points. Do that for two opposite ends of the square. See below.

3. Fold your fabric along the line and sew flat using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. You will end up with a flat triangle on both sides of the square. Sewing the flap down makes it easier to feed the collar through later. Your square should look like this now.

4. Fold your fabric in half so the pointed ends meet. Sew the pointed end shut using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

5. Now it's time to flip your collar inside out and sew a line about 2 inches down from the top to create a tunnel to feed your collar through. Finish your pointed end with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. That's it! You are done.

The first collar I attempted to make was a disaster. My 2nd attempt took 10 minutes. After the 2nd one, I was flying through my stack of squares. This really is a simple project and you can embellish your bandanas with trim, fringe and fancy patterned finishes. The fabric I used for the tutorial was cotton but you an use any material. Happy sewing, Mamas!